08 April 2013

Consumer Electricity Tariff - Need is for a Long Term Vision - Eng Parakrama Jayasinghe

08th April 2013,By Eng Parakrama Jayasinghe

Energy Security is within our grasp!

What is needed is the courage to grab it.

The current mire

The tariff is the highest in the region

The cross subsidies cause dissatisfaction

The CEB continues to lose money every year

There is no solution in sight

World energy trends are ignored

Who pays for the subsidies?

The electricity bill may seem low with the subsidies

But the Billions of deficit is covered by public funds – that is all of us

The real beneficiaries are the Oil and Coal suppliers and their local agents

Who is responsible?

We all are paying for the cardinal sin of believing the myths of cheap electricity round the corner and abdicating our responsibility to speak out.

The latest is Coal power at Rs 7.50 according to the Minister when the fuel price alone per unit is about Rs 7.00

Many excuses are offered but !

Those in authority has not been able to offer a viable solution and have let the country down

It is time for the consumers to make a stand

But the solution is not to expect more and more subsidies

How the high tariff should have worked - The Rice Story Vs The Electricity Story

The problem of Peak Load

The current generation capacity is enough to meet the average demand. ( 3100 MW Vs 2100 )

New coal plants are proposed to meet the additions to peak load ignoring the ever increasing price of coal

Indigenous alternatives are not even considered as candidates in the planning

The way out

The tariff policy must have the objectives of :-

Time based target for limiting fossil fuel usage to a minimum

Do not build new coal plants to meet the peak load demand – there is enough capacity for many years to come to meet the average demand

Promote self generation at least during peak hours to avoid the need for any more coal plants

Recommendations

Impose limits on total generation cost for the coming years. The current expectation that what ever amount CEB spends have to be recovered from consumers is untenable and unsustainable. The expectation that the fuel surcharge can be removed with termination of oil based power is a fallacy as the coal prices too are moving up

Phase out the subsidies gradually

Offer time of day tariff to all segments – GP 1 and HP 1 to start with this year

Make the peak time tariff cost reflective and the off peak tariff low enough to incentivize self generation

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